Protesters Fill Nairobi Streets to Demand End to Gender-Based Violence

Protesters Fill Nairobi Streets to Demand End to Gender-Based Violence

Large crowds of demonstrators marched through Kenya's capital on Monday, protesting the high volume of murders targeting women and children.

Data compiled by research firm Odipo Dev and media platform Africa Uncensored reveals that at least 69 women have been killed in the East African country since January. Meanwhile, government records show 10,581 children went missing over the past 16 months, a figure that includes 1,952 kidnappings and 173 trafficking cases.

Wearing white T-shirts and carrying "End Femicide and Pedicide" banners, protesters gridlocked central Nairobi with emotional chants. They blocked a major road using a billboard listing the names of over 500 victims.

Julie Ochieng displayed a memorial notice for her 28-year-old daughter, Kristabel Anyango, who was killed after attempting to escape a toxic relationship.

"If you are tired of them, just let them go. Stop killing women," she urged 

Though femicide refers to the gender-motivated killing of women and girls, Kenyan law does not recognize it as a distinct criminal offense. Activists argue this omission leaves many cases undocumented or delayed within the judicial system.

The legal aid group FIDA Kenya reports that half of its 70 weekly cases stem from domestic and sexual violence.

"There are no consequences; they are brushed off as minor cases... We need decisive action and penalties," protester Njeri Mwangi told AFP.

Veronicah Were, an anti-femicide advocate working in a Nairobi slum, stated she personally knew 10 women who were murdered.

"I have followed those cases, but most end in silence," Were noted. "Femicide must be a standalone offense in our laws to end it."

Amnesty International termed the trend a "national security crisis," emphasizing that "every delayed response costs lives."

Kenya's worst year on record was 2024, which averaged 16 female fatalities per month, according to Odipo Dev and Africa Uncensored. President William Ruto formed a task force on the matter last year, but campaigners say no real action has followed.

"When will our demands be met? The killings continue," Were said